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Nelson vs. Werdum Official for UFC 143, Lamas Replaces Injured Koch

As rumored would be the case, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has confirmed that Fabricio Werdum will make his Octagon return against Roy Nelson, February 4th in Las Vegas. The heavyweight bout will be part of the UFC 143 main card, which will be hosted by the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Nelson (16-6) will be looking to build on the third round, stoppage win he recorded over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in October, which came after the former TUF winner dropped back-to-back bouts to Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir.

Werdum (14-5-1) is the latest heavyweight to make his way to the UFC, after parent company Zuffa decided to phase out Strikeforce’s heavyweight division in 2012. Werdum is coming off a unanimous decision loss to former champion Alistair Overeem in June, which ended a three fight win streak that included victories over Antonio Silva and Fedor Emelianenko.

The renowned grappler hasn’t fought in the UFC since 2008, when he was stopped by the aforementioned dos Santos.

The UFC has also announced that Ricardo Lamas will step in for the injured Erik Koch on February 4th and will fight featherweight Dustin Poirier.

Lamas (11-2) competed last in November and tapped out Cub Swanson with a second round, arm-triangle-choke.

Poirier (11-1) is also coming off a submission win at the first UFC on FOX card in November, and tapped out Pablo Garza with a second round, D’Arce choke.

UFC 143 will be headlined by a welterweight bout between Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz to determine the promotion’s interim champion.

posted by FCF Staff @ 11:52 am

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